


Noir

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: 1930s, 1930s AU, Anachronistic, F/M, Film Noir, Film Noir AU, Mentions of past abuse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, because hell yeah i'm excited for that, because of course she is, but who cares when you can have happily married gays instead, cinder fall femme fatale, gangster au, just didn't really decide on those yet, lesbian femme fatale, or something like that, this will have gay side relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-14 07:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13585089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: Mercury never wanted to pick up where his father left, but without any idea what to do instead he works as a private detective. When a mysterious woman hires him to find Yang Xiao Long it seems like a normal job. Until he realises he got caught up in something too dangerous to handle, and until Yang gets under his skin too deeply to back out.





	1. Chapter 1

Staying professional wasn’t as easy with a gun pointed at his head.

“I have no idea who she was.” For a moment Mercury thought it would be easier to lie and make something up. But judging from her reaction she probably had a really good idea who had been looking for her. “Dark hair, red dress…”

“Red eyes?”

“No, rather yellow.”

She lowered the gun. She almost looked disappointed. “So not Raven.”

“No, that wasn’t the name she told me.”

 

* * *

 

It was one of those days that had already smelled like trouble the minute he woke up. Emerald yelled at him because they had run out of coffee, the shower was still broken, and an angry client demanded his money back, first hiring him to find out if his wife was cheating on him and now blaming him for ruining his marriage because he had got him what he had wanted.

She introduced herself as Cinder Fall. The name was obviously made up and her dress picked to impress him, which would have worked if the job hadn’t taught him to be careful. “I am looking for someone”, she said, crossing her legs and showing off her nylon stockings.

“I’m good at finding people. I guess today’s your lucky day.”

“Is that so?” Her lips curled into a smile. “I heard you’re Marcus Black’s son.”

“Possible.”

Cinder Fall opened her purse and laid a small picture on his coffee stained desk. “It was taken a couple of years ago. She’s about twenty now.”

It was one of the better photographs people brought along when they wanted to hire him. “She’s blonde?”, he asked. Sometimes it was hard to make out. She had been a pretty girl, depending on what life had done to her she might not be as pretty today.

“So I was told.”

“You never met her?”

“No. She’s a friend’s daughter.”

Mercury shrugged. If you care about people’s motives in this business you’re unemployed faster than you can blink. “What more do you have?”

The folder she laid on the desk was thin enough to already give him a headache. “Those are all the information I have.”

“This might not be cheap”, he said.

“I’ll pay you whatever you want if you find her.”

“People always say that until I do tell them what I want.”

“Trust me. I’m not like your usual clients.”

By then he didn’t know how right she would be. All he had was a black and white photograph and when he opened the folder a name that would change his life: Yang Xiao Long.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t know why she wanted me to find you. You don’t ask that kind of questions if you want to stay in this business. Can you please stop pointing that gun at me?” He was kneeling on the floor in the bathroom of the shady bar where he had found her, his arms crossed behind his head. This wasn’t the first time someone was pointing a gun at him, after a while it really loses all its charm.

“You’ll stay there and count to one hundred”, she said. “Or a thousand. Make it a thousand. Don’t move or I will shoot you.”

“Come on, Blondie. If you wanted to shoot me you already would have done it.” She wasn’t the type to just kills someone, he could see it on her face. Too warm and kind, as much as she tried not to show that. She was wearing brown tweed pants and a white blouse, probably appropriate for a very liberal office if it wasn’t for her heavy boots and the gun in her hand. She definitely wasn’t any less beautiful than in the photograph.

“I really don’t want to. But I will if I have to.”

“My face is too handsome to get splashed all over the tiles.”

“Now I really do want to shoot you. Just –“ She stopped and it took Mercury a moment longer to notice the noises. Either someone had started a fist fight over money or they were in really big trouble.  And then a gunshot. They both flinched.

“Fuck.” She looked around, then lowering the weapon. “Stay here, I need to leave.” She turned around, climbing on the sink to open the small window above.

“Don’t do that with the weapon in your hand”, he said. “Someone might get hurt.”

“Shut up.” She opened the window, starting to climb through it, surprisingly flexible. It didn’t take him long to make up his mind. If she was in trouble he was in trouble too.

The window led to a dark alleyway behind the bar. Yang must have heard him jump out of the window because she turned around and even though he couldn’t see her face in the dark he knew she was glaring daggers at him. “Someone’s after you, huh?”

“I thought _you_ were after me.”

“You’ll run right into their arms if you go that way. Come on, whoever is paying me to find you won’t if those guys get you first.”

She hesitated, but then she came back, still holding the gun in her hand. At least she wasn’t pointing it at him anymore. “Will you just hand me over then?”

“I don’t hand people over. I just sell information. That way.” He turned around and walked towards the other end of the alleyway.

“That’s a dead end”, she said. She followed him anyway.

“Not quite.” He stopped in front of a heavy door in the dark brick wall of the building right next to the bar. She nervously tapped her feet on the ground when he kneeled down to open the door. It wasn’t even a new lock, giving in in less than thirty seconds. He had been faster before.

“Do you even know what’s in there?”, she asked.

“A movie theatre, so be quiet.”

Inside it was dark. When the door closed behind them they were standing in a dark hallway, probably only used by staff, which meant no one would ask to see their tickets or suspect anyone in here. He could hear voices somewhere inside, unnaturally loud and dramatic. “Give me the gun”, He whispered.

“No way.”

“You don’t want anyone to see it. I can hide it in the pockets of my coat.”

She fumbled around with the gun and it took him a second to realise she was taking out the ammunition. “I still have a knife”, she said when she gave him the gun.

It was easy to find the cinema hall. The movie was already running but half the seats were empty. Probably because the cinema could have used new seats and something to get rid of the smell of burned popcorn. They sat down in the back row. Her hands were trembling. He leaned closer to whisper into her ear. Despite all expectations he had had she was wearing perfume, and not a bad one. “We’ll wait until the movie is over”, he whispered. “They’ll think you’re long gone once we leave this place.”

“Don’t think I’ll let you hand me over that easily.”

“I don’t hand people over”, he whispered and leaned back in his seat.

The movie was boring. Mercury had never been the type to go to the movie theatre, mostly because he found it hard to pay attention to a movie for long enough not to get bored. He watched the black and white images flicker over the screen, but he couldn’t blend out the smell of her perfume. An hour must have passed when the hero finally kissed the girl. The lights turned on and people started to get up and leave.

“You owe me answers”, she said. “Does anyone know where you are?”

“No.”

“We go outside and when we’re around the corner you give me my gun back. Then you follow me.” She must have thought about this while they had been watching the movie.

“You don’t need a gun to ask me out, you know?” He smirked. She got up and gave him an angry glare that he probably deserved but willingly accepted.

It had started to rain. Couples were using umbrellas as an excuse to get close and Yang stopped for a moment before she looked at him. “Give me your coat.”

“Oh, we’re on that level now?”

“I left mine at the bar and this is a white blouse, you can imagine what would happen.”

“Pretty well actually.”

“Shut up or I _will_ shoot you.”

“All you had to do was ask, Blondie.” He smirked and took my coat off to give it to her. That didn’t just give her her gun back but also his, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t actually shoot him. People who did never warned you.

She didn’t say a word while they walked through the rain. His coat was far too big on her, and her hair was quickly becoming a mess in the rain, yet she never stopped looking determined. She led him to an old Hotel. It looked abandoned, abandoned long ago, but the front door wasn’t locked and inside an old man was sleeping behind the reception.

“Lovely”, he said.

“Shut up. This is temporary.” She didn’t seem to trust the elevator either, or maybe it didn’t work, and took the stairs. He had been at worse places, but not many. He heard voices somewhere upstairs.

She took an old rusty key out of the pockets of her pants and opened the door to one of the rooms. A bed, clothes spread around the floor and the door to a very small bathroom standing open. It looked like several people had died in here, murdered or just in sheer horror of the old fashioned wallpaper. “Sit down”, she said, pointing to a small table with two chairs.

“Can I take my wet clothes off at least?”

“I don’t assume you brought anything to change into.”

Not that it would have bothered him, but he didn’t want to provoke her any further. He sat down, running his hands through his wet hair. His coat had kept her mostly dry, but she went to the bathroom to get a towel for her hair without offering him one.

“How did you know they were after you?”, he asked.

“You were after me. Do you drink?”

“Sure.” He didn’t. But this was one of the rare exceptions he was willing to make.

She took a bottle and two glasses from her bedside table. You didn’t have to know much about alcohol to know those glasses were too big for the kind of liquor she had chosen. “People are honest when they’re drinking”, she said when she sat down with him.

“Drinking seems pretty risky when people are after you.”

“If they find me here I’m screwed anyway.” She opened the bottle and filled their glasses with way more than anyone should have.

“Don’t you want to fight back?”

“It’s not like they’re trying to kill me. Drink.”

He took the glass. The worst part about drinking wasn’t that he couldn’t stop or hated it, it was rather the fear of liking it too much. The last time he had had a drink had been almost a year ago, and it had been for a job. He still couldn’t stop counting every time he had a glass of liquor in his hand. How much was too much? How often was too often? How many drinks had his father had every morning to be able to get out of bed? He took a sip. His throat was burning.

“Whoever that woman was, she was ready to pay an awful lot of money if I found you”, he said. “She said she’s a friend of your mum.”

“She’s definitely not. What’s your name?”

“Mercury.” For a moment he thought about lying to her, but what was the point? “You know why they’re after you, don’t you?”

“I don’t know who your employer is”, she said. “But I have a pretty good idea why she wants to find me. There aren’t too many options and if she wanted me dead she wouldn’t have hired you.” She took a big sip from her glass and he did the same.

“So why all this? Taking me home with you and getting me a drink? Is this supposed to be a date?”

“This is not my home. Just a place where I’m staying until this is over.”

“Still.”

“I’m tired of running away. So why not invite at least one of the people who are after me for a drink and get to know them better?”

He should have told her it was stupid. Poetic, but stupid. But this wasn’t going too bad for him, so he decided to play along. “There isn’t too much to know about me.”

“Try a bit harder.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m a private detective”, he said.

“Why?”

“It pays the bills.”

“Other jobs do too.”

“Family business. My father had a bunch of clients and a reputation before he passed away, so I had the skills and a well-known agency, everything else would have been way too much effort.”

“Acquiring those skills does take a lot of effort.”

“My dad taught me, I didn’t have much of a choice.” He took another sip. He could already feel the effects of the alcohol. “What about you?”

“My dad never taught me how to be a private detective, no.”

His glass was half empty and he knew he had to decide how drunk he wanted to get tonight. Probably as drunk as he had to to get any kind of information out of her. It was stupid because he didn’t actually need to know anything about her, just where she was, but maybe this was a late flush of the ambition his father had always said he had lacked. Or just the smell of her perfume, the way her blouse showed just enough to make him want to see more. “I had to pick up all the work he didn’t get done early on. Later he was too drunk to get anything done most of the time.”

“Do you get drunk often?”

He downed the rest of his drink. It was hard not to cough. “No. I only ever drink when I have to for work.”

“Is this work for you?” She refilled his drink. “What if this was a trap?”

“Why would you bother luring me into a trap?”

She shrugged, sipping on her own drink. “To rob you.”

“Rob what, my coat?” He laughed. “If that was your plan you had bad luck tonight, Blondie. So if this is not where you usually live, why are you here?”

“Waiting until this whole mess is over.” She shrugged, and then finished her drink before she took the bottle and filled her glass once again. “You know, I’m done with this shit. I’m done running away. Look at this, I can’t even go to a bar trying to talk to my uncle without hell breaking loose.”

“Am I the first guy who is after you that you’ve ended up taking home with you?”

“Shut up. You’re not complaining, are you? Maybe you should. I could get you drunk, tie you to the bed and eat your liver for breakfast. Maybe that woman wanted you to find me because I did that to her husband.”

“How would you cook my liver in here?”

“I eat it raw.”

He laughed. “Now that I would like to see.”

She got up and opened the small window next to the bed. It was still raining outside, but she didn’t seem to care. “You’re a horrible detective”, she said, sipping on her drink.

“I found you, didn’t I?”

“You found me at a place where I wanted to be found. Not by you, but still. And right now you’re doing nothing to get your client what she paid you for.”

“She didn’t pay me anything yet.” He had never been good with sending out bills on time. Emerald had called him out for that quite a few times. “And it’s not like I really care about this job.”

“So you’re just lazy and without any ambition.”

“As opposed to you?”

“Sure. I’m full of purpose.” She turned around and looked at him. “I just don’t know what for.”

“You know my dad always said purpose doesn’t get you anywhere. Only discipline and obedience. Though he was never a good role model on any of those things.”

“What happened to him?”

“Messed with the wrong people.” Technically correct, just leaving out some very important details. Like that the person he had messed with was Mercury. For way too long.

“You don’t sound sad about it.”

“Because I’m not. He had it coming.” He shrugged. “Close the window, it’s getting cold.”

She rolled her eyes, but she closed the window, leaning against the wall. “My mum isn’t a good person either.”

He doubted she was this kind of bad. But no use in telling her anything about his father. “Can’t we talk about something a bit more positive?”

“Like what? Butterflies and rainbows?” 

“Did you rent this room because you’re short of money or because it fits your mood?”

“Actually I’m a fun person to be around. Stop looking at me like that, I really am.” She stared at her feet and then took another sip from her drink. “I just ended up being caught up in this mess, I didn’t choose this.” She looked up. “Tell me something about you.”

“You have to be more specific, Blondie. What do you want to know?”

“What do you want from life?”

“Nothing.” He could see she didn’t like the answer, but it was the only one he could give her. “Life pretty much sucked for a while. Now it’s just… okay, I guess. Could be worse. But you learn not to expect anything after a while, you know?”

“That’s stupid. How can you be happy if you refuse to have expectations because you’re scared to be disappointed?”

“It’s pretty relaxing, you should try it.”

“Trust me, I’ve been there.” Her voice was bitter. “It doesn’t make you happy, it only paralyses you.”

“I’m not unhappy.” He got up, taking a bottle of water from the bedside table and taking a sip. “I just take life as it comes. The good thing is that when a chance offers itself to me I don’t have to be afraid of consequences because I don’t expect anything.”

She looked at him and when she left her glass on the window shelf and crossed the distance between them she looked so angry and fierce he was sure she would attack him. But she just pulled him down and kissed him, her teeth scratching over his lips.

“How did I deserve that?”, he mumbled.

“You talked about taking chances.” She pulled away, all of a sudden she almost seemed insecure.

“I talk a lot.” He leaned down to kiss her again. Her fingers ran through his hair and then went down to unbutton his wet shirt. He pulled her closer by the hips, hands wandering over her curves. Warm fingers traced over his bare chest and he could feel her stop for a second when she found the scars before she took off his shirt. He pulled her blouse out of her pants and she suddenly pushed him. He landed on the bed behind him, but when he looked at her she gave him a smirk that rather made him feel like her next big adventure, a challenge she couldn’t wait to overcome, than a guy she took to bed. It drove him wild. She straddled his hips and unbuttoned her blouse, slowly, and all he wanted was to throw her on the bed and rip the blouse apart, but the sight of her lacy underwear convinced him to play by her rules. At least for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot for G&G week, but here we go. Now it's going to be a longer story. Also thanks to Lufarea for reading over it and helping me with the grammar!


	2. Chapter 2

In the dark the room almost had something charming to it, but with broad daylight shining through the windows it was just a shabby hole. Yang stared at the ceiling, naked, with Mercury’s arms wrapped around her, and she couldn’t decide whether she liked it or not. But sleeping with the detective who had been supposed to find her seemed like a perfect metaphor for the mess her life had become.

Yang tried to get out of bed without waking him up and he pulled her closer in his sleep. His naked body was pressed against her back, warm, almost comforting. She carefully pushed his arms away and got up. The shower didn’t work properly, the water was either too hot or too cold. She dried her hair with a towel and put on fresh clothes before she gathered her things and stuffed them into a bag.

Mercury was still sleeping. She looked at him for a moment, his surprisingly muscular upper body, his messy grey hair. When he was asleep he almost looked cute. But she also couldn’t help but to stare at the wounds on his chest and arms, some round like they came from cigarettes. She bit her lip. He was the last person she needed in her life right now, so she probably shouldn’t even think about it. She still didn’t know what to think about him, but he seemed more human now and for a moment that made the raging anxiety calm down. She knew it wouldn’t last, but this had been the first time she had slept without waking up every two hours with the fear of someone being in her room for weeks.

She carefully closed the door behind her so he wouldn’t wake up. She left him without a note, but she took his coat. She had left her own at the bar after all.

 

* * *

 

Mercury came home without his coat and several Dollars he had paid for the hotel bill Yang had left him with. He carefully opened the door in the hope Emerald wouldn’t hear him, but of course she did. She stood in the hallway, arms crossed in front of her chest. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m not. I hope you didn’t sell my stuff.”

“Have you made any progress?”

“More or less.” He walked into the kitchen. “Did you buy coffee?”

“Yes, I’ll make you one. Are you hungry?”

“Yes”, Mercury said. He watched her filling the water kettle and taking out bread and jam. She really had been worrying, usually she never would have made him breakfast. He felt sorry, but she knew about his job, and how it sometimes required him to stay away from home for days. Usually it wasn’t to have sex with the people he was supposed to find, though.

“I need to get changed”, he said. “I’ll be right back.”

He had stayed in Marcus’ apartment after he had died. They had never been able to afford to move, even though he hated this place more than anything. Emerald was sleeping in Marcus’ old bedroom because he still couldn’t bring himself to face the memories that lurked there, but even the walls of his own room had always made him feel trapped. Like there wasn’t anything else in the world, just this place he never would be able to leave.

His shirt still smelled like her. Something sentimental inside of him didn’t want to let go of it, but he was well aware of what last night had been. Just sex, nothing more. If she hadn’t been the one to initiate it he probably should have felt bad for taking advantage of her situation. Maybe he was also underestimating her with that thought.

“You still smell like alcohol”, Emerald said when he came back to the kitchen. On the kitchen table was a cup with coffee and a plate with a sandwich.

“It was for the job.” He sat down and when she didn’t say anything he looked at her. “It really was. I promise.”

“If you say so.” She sat down next to him. Her green dress was rumpled and he was almost sure it was the same one she had worn yesterday, he wondered if she had slept in it. Sometimes she overworked herself so much she fell asleep at her desk with her head resting on her book and he had to carry her to bed.

“I remember why I don’t drink right now. My head hurts like hell.” It didn’t actually hurt, but he knew it would make Emerald feel better if he said that.

She wanted to say something, but the doorbell interrupted her. The front door, the one clients used. “I’ll go and buy you a couple of minutes, eat your sandwich.” She got up.

“Don’t say I’m eating, say I’m calling another client or something.”

“We don’t have a telephone. What if the client asks for our number?”

“Well, you got it.” He leaned back and watched her leave. Sometimes she told him he had to pay her if he wanted her to do his work, but they both knew how she meant it. They both lived off his money.

She came back only a couple of minutes later, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms in front of her chest. “It’s that woman who hired you to find the girl. Cinder Fall.”

He raised his eyebrows. “This soon? What does she want?”

“She didn’t say anything. I told her to wait in your office.”

“I hope she doesn’t expect anything yet. Impatient clients are the worst.” Most importantly he had no idea what to tell her. _I found her, but she spotted me and instead of telling you right away I slept with her and she ran away while I was asleep_. If he did that she definitely wouldn’t pay him a dollar. He stuffed the last bit of his sandwich in his mouth and got up.

Cinder Fall still dressed to impress. The red dress hugged her curves and would have seduced people who were more into pretty women with red lipstick. Not that he would have said no if she hadn’t been a client, or if he hadn’t been with Yang only hours ago.

“Can I help you with something?”, he asked as he sat down behind his desk.

“I’m not here to ask you if you have any results yet. I know good works takes time.” She sat up, crossing her legs again, her dress shifting to show off her thighs. “I’m here to bring you your first cheque.”

“I didn’t send you a bill yet.”

“No. See this as a gift for your efforts.” She got up, opening her purse and leaning forward as she laid the check on his desk. He took a quick glance at the sum on it. Way too many zeroes behind it. Her fingertips stroked his jaw for a moment. “Finding her is really important to me if you know what I mean.”

“I’m doing my best”, he said, giving her a nonchalant smirk and resisting the urge to push her away.

“Did you… find anything yet?” Her perfume was awfully sweet.

“Talked to some people.” Technically not a lie. “Was about to talk to more people today.” If Emerald counted at least.

“I don’t want to keep you from doing your job.” She smiled. “Just know that I will be very grateful when you find her.”

“That cheque gives a pretty good idea of that. I will call you as soon as I know anything.”

“Great.” She stood up again and closed her purse. “I’ll await your call with baited breath.” She turned around, her hips swaying as she left the room.

Mercury looked at the cheque on his desk. Cinder Fall probably thought of herself as incredibly smart, but she hadn’t considered him being smart enough to realise that the sum on this cheque, more than he usually earned in months, told him that something about this job was horribly wrong.

 

* * *

 

He found her. Of course he did, she had left him enough clues after all. The bar was dark and the cigarette smoke made her eyes water when Qrow sat down at the table across her, two glasses with amber liquor in his hands. “You have a way of making a dramatic entrance”, he said. “Or rather not an entrance. When I got to the bar you were already gone and two men were shot.”

“I didn’t know they would find me.” She took the glass without drinking from it.

“Yang, _who_ is trying to find you?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You need to come home. Your father is dead worried, just like Ruby.”

“I can’t. If I go home they would be after you too.”

“Don’t you think we can handle that? Whatever it is, Yang, whatever you got yourself into, we can figure it out together.”

She stared at her hands. The whiskey was almost warm. “I have everything under control.”

“Then why did you even want to talk to me?”

She took a deep breath and looked up. “I knew dad and Ruby would worry, but if I had met up with them they never would have let me go. I just need them to know I’m alright.”

“I was worried, too.” Qrow sipped on his drink. “Your mum is worried.”

“You talked to her?”

“Of course I did. We had no idea where you were. No one knows what’s going on.” He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the sticky table. “You know, you really got that from your mum.”

“I got nothing from my mum.” She glared at him.

“She said the same thing. That you’re both stubborn and that for once you could pick up something from you dad. Why do you insist on doing this on your own?”

“I can’t explain it to you”, she said. “Not right now.”

“Yang, please.”

Right now she just wanted to say yes, to go home with him and hug her family until the awful feeling of being hunted vanished. But she knew she couldn’t. “I’m alright”, she said, trying to seem confident. “I’m too smart to let them get me. They didn’t get me yesterday, did they?”

“But almost.” He sighed and downed the rest of his drink. “Do you need money?”

“I didn’t want to see you because I need money.”

“I know.” He pulled out his purse. “Please be safe, Yang”, he said and handed her a bundle of dollar notes. She quickly took it before anyone in here could see it, hiding it in the sleeve of her blouse. “Be safe and come back home.”

“I’m trying.”

He took her hand and squeezed it for a moment. She couldn’t help but to think about her home, the sunflowers her dad grew on her small balcony and lazy mornings with pancakes for breakfast. “I have to go”, she said and got up. Qrow sighed, but she knew if she stayed longer he would get his way.

The air outside was so cold she was shaking. Mercury’s coat was heavy, dragging her down. She tried to blink away the tears in her eyes, angry at the entire world and probably also herself.

She had come up with plan B this morning while eating French fries by the docks. The issue was that she hadn’t managed to come up with plan A yet. So plan B had to do. Mercury had kept some business cards in the pockets of his coat. The address was easy to find and the building looked like most other buildings around, only a small tarnished plate gave away that _Black Investigative Agency_ was hiding behind dark brick walls. The front door wasn’t locked. The right door was easy to find, someone had painted the name of the agency on the door in professional white letters, but thin cracks were running through the letters, some of the letters almost missing entirely. She rang the doorbell.

Mercury’s hair was messy and his shirt half unbuttoned. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her, leaning against the doorframe. “You are making this job really easy.”

“I want to hire you”, she said.

“For what, not telling Cinder Fall where you are?”

“I need to find Summer Rose.”


	3. Chapter 3

“So… you want me to find her for you.” Mercury leaned back in his chair, feet resting on the messy desk in front of him.  He wasn’t wearing shoes and she wondered if he had been asleep before she had knocked on his door.

“I can pay you.”

“You probably can’t pay me what Cinder Fall is ready to pay me if I find you. How did you think we would solve that?”

It was an issue, she had to admit that. “I’ll think of something.”

He shrugged. “Alright. I’ll help you. But you have to come up with something or I have to tell her where you are.”

“Give me a couple of days.”

“So do you have anything else for me besides a name? Who is she?”

“She was my mum. Don’t you want to take notes or something?”

“Sure.” He sat up, searching for an empty sheet of paper before he took a letter, probably a bill, and turned it around. For a moment Yang asked herself why anyone would hire him. “Your mum you said?”

“My stepmother. My father married her a year after I was born. She died when I was six years old.”

He looked up. “You know, usually people don’t send me to search for someone they already know is dead.”

“Her body was never found. A couple of weeks ago I was staying in a small inn at the other side of the town and someone had booked a room under her name there, only days ago. When I started to ask question people were suddenly after me. I can’t ask for help from my family because I don’t want them to be after them too and I don’t want them to get their hopes up if it turns out to be nothing but a coincidence.”

“If your family lives in town, what were you doing in that inn in the first place?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You know, most people who have been missing for what, fourteen years, turn out to be dead.”

“Fifteen years. I know what you’re thinking. Why would a mother abandon her family for that long? But I just… need to know.”

“That’s one of the questions I don’t have. People are shitty like that.”

“Not Summer. She was… she’s not like that.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged. “So do you have anything else besides that name?”

“No. I was working on that, but then people are after me, as I said.”

“Do you have any idea what Cinder Fall is ready to pay me to find you?”

“So what, are you just going to take that money and hand me over?”

“I told you I’m not handing people over like that, but it’s a lot. Probably more than I usually earn in years. I’m absolutely sure I’m not the only one she approached. I don’t think this is something you want to get caught up in.”

“My mum said the same thing and I didn’t listen to her, so why would I listen to you?” She clenched her hand to a fist. “Do you want my money or not?”

“I can see if I can find something, but as soon as this gets tricky I’m out. Where are you staying at the moment?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“You can sleep here if you want. At least tonight. I can ask around a bit tomorrow.”

“Okay.” She stared down at her hands. This was probably a terrible idea, but she didn’t know where else to go. “I’ll sleep on the couch if you have one, or on the floor”, she said and looked at him. “Just to make that clear.”

“Your loss.” He smirked and got up. “Come on, this way.”

The office looked small and like there wasn’t much more to it. A small waiting area with a dying plant in the corner of the room, Mercury’s messy room that definitely had seen better days. But behind another door he was hiding the rooms he seemed to live in.

“That’s my room”, he said, pointing at one of the doors. “That’s my roommate’s room, don’t confuse them or she will kill you.” He led her to a small living room, the furniture looked like it had belonged to his grandparents. There was a book shelve, but it was almost empty. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” She was, but more than anything she wanted to hide under a blanket and try to pretend she had everything under control.

“The bathroom is the door right at the end of the hallway. I’ll get you a blanket.”

Later, she was lying on his horribly uncomfortable couch, staring at the ceiling and trying not to cry. She was used to sleeping at unfamiliar places, but ever since she had ran away from home she felt like she was lost, without anywhere to go. She turned around, the couch creaking beneath her, until she finally decided she was definitely not going to fall asleep like that. She sat up.

The hallway was dark and cold. The nightgown she was wearing was the only clean one she still owned and she regretted not taking care of her laundry earlier, but she wouldn’t be wearing it for long anyway. She carefully opened the door to his bedroom. Mercury was already awake when she closed it behind her, sitting up and looking at her. She must have woken him up and for a moment she felt incredibly stupid.

“Knew you couldn’t last the night without me”, he said.

“Your couch is a nightmare.” She sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. He leaned in closer, but not daring to touch her yet. “Don’t mistake this for anything but what it is”, she said.

“Hey, I’m a professional.”

His kiss was soft, almost careful. _He’s just doing that because he doesn’t want you to bite his tongue off_ , she told herself, she almost caught herself getting carried away. She pulled him closer by his neck, biting his lip aggressively and he caught the hint, his hands starting to roam her body, pushing up her nightgown.

She just needed something to distract herself from this mess. Just a distraction.

 

* * *

 

He woke up with his face full of hair and her warm body pressed against his, almost surprised she was still there. For a moment he allowed himself to breathe in the scent of her hair, to let his eyes wander over the soft curves of her body. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed the large tattoo on her back last time. He had probably been too distracted. It wasn’t uncommon to see people with tattoos in his business, not uncommon to see women with tattoos, but she wasn’t the type he would have expected to have one. If anything maybe a small butterfly somewhere, but not a large dragon spread across the whole of her back, the tail reaching down to her thigh. He had never expected to be this turned on by something like that, but here he was. He didn’t want to move, but work was calling. He carefully got up, admiring the view in front of him for a moment longer before putting some clothes on and leaving the room to make coffee.

Emerald was already up. Everything about her was judgmental, her posture while she sat at the kitchen table and sipped on her coffee, the way she raised her eyebrows. “Since when are you bringing girls home?”

“Work. I’m bringing work home. She’s the girl I was supposed to find.”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear you last night.”

He filled the water kettle and shrugged. “She has a job for me.”

“Mercury, this is a very stupid idea.”

“I’ll just take her to Maura and see if she knows anything while I figure out what to do about Cinder Fall.”

“If this gets us into trouble I will personally kick your ass.”

It took Yang half an hour to walk through the kitchen door, wearing a yellow dress that looked better on her than he wanted to admit. “Do you have coffee?”, she asked. “Also I’m starving.”

“I’ll get you something.” Mercury got up. “This is Emerald by the way.”

“Your roommate?” Yang sat down at the kitchen table. “I’m Yang and I have no idea how you can endure him.”

“Me neither.” Emerald looked at bit sceptical, but she didn’t seem to hate her. “Merc can make you a sandwich.”

It was almost noon when they left the house. Maura wouldn’t be up any earlier anyway. Yang had put her hair in a messy bun that she was trying to hide beneath an incredibly ugly hat, wearing Mercury’s coat she still refused to give back. She still seemed very out of place in this part of town and looked appropriately confused when he stopped in front of what was probably the ugliest brothel in town. “Are you serious?”, she asked.

“I told you I would ask some of my contacts.” He shrugged.

“Are you… are you in here often?” She looked like she was going through everything he could have caught in there, which was quite a lot and she hadn’t even been inside yet.

“Only for information. My informant works in there, I gave her a false alibi once so now she owes me. Hey, do you really think I need to pay anyone for sex?” He smirked and knocked at the door.

He didn’t remember the name of the girl who opened the door, but he had definitely seen her before. She looked tired and like someone had done a really bad job at trying to make her look older than eighteen. “What do you want here?”

“I’m here for Maura. Get her away from whoever is on top of her right now, I need to talk to her.”

“You know she goes by Cerise in here.” The girl rolled her eyes. “Who is that?” She pointed at Yang.

“A friend.”

“Alright, come in.” She stepped aside. “Room number three, I’ll go and wake her up.”

It still smelled like cigarette dust and sweat in here. Yang followed him upstairs without a word, but when he found the right room and closed the door behind them she glared at him. “This is…”

“What? You wanted information. Better not sit on that bed, they never change the sheets.”

“Are you sure you didn’t –“

“Yes. Absolutely. I’m not an idiot.”

The door creaked open and he turned around. “I heard someone especially asked for me, what can I – what the hell are you doing here?” Maura seemed to look older every time he met her. Her dress did an awful job at hiding everything he didn’t want to see, but there also wasn’t anything about her he did want to see, so it was fighting a lost battle. Her black hair looked like a dead bird and her lipstick was too bright, making her mouth look crooked and thin.

“You look horrible”, he said. “I have a name for you.”

“And I have worked until six in the morning. Couldn’t you have sent a letter?”

“You can’t even read.”

“Charming as ever.” She sat down on the bed. “Who is the girl?”

“She’s none of your business.”

“Did you finally dump that other girl? I never liked her.”

“I’ve never been with Emerald. Are you going to help me or what?”

“Sure, sure.” She smiled. It almost looked like a grimace. “What’s the name?”

“Summer Rose.”

“Pretty name. I’ll send you a note when I have anything for you.”

“No, I will come back tomorrow. I don’t want anyone to find letters of a dirty whore in my office.”

“I should make you pay for all the hours you have already cost me. Why is it that every other man pays to see me and you don’t?”

There were many reasons, but he went with the most obvious one. “I should tell the police you killed that guy.”

“Just get out of here already.”

He didn’t even need to tell Yang to come with him. She slipped out of the room before he had fully opened the door, when he closed it she only shook her head. “Do you treat all your informants like that?”, she asked.

“I can be very charming if I want to. Some of her customers are really important people. Wouldn’t be surprised if the police commissioner was one of them.”

“He sure as hell isn’t”, she said when they stepped outside and walked down the street. “I can’t believe you dragged me in there.”

“I can’t believe this is the thing you’re scandalised about considering you saw me naked this morning.”

“That’s not the same thing. Absolutely not the same thing.” She shook her head. “Are you sure you never… had anything going on with her?”

“She’s twice my age. Just look at her. Do you really think I’d ever sink that low? I’m disappointed.”

“Just making sure. She didn’t look healthy.”

“Oh, come on.” He smirked. “So, now as we wait, do you just want to go home?”  

“I guess. You’re the detective, if there isn’t anywhere else to go we should probably go back to your place.”

He stopped, looking at her. She wasn’t much taller than her, but she still had a way of making him feel like she was looking down at him. It was endearing. “Are you just scared you caught some disease from me or are you jealous?”

“You wish.” She bit her lip, but he could see she was keeping herself from smiling. “That grin looks stupid on you.”

“That hat looks stupid of you.” Some strands of hair had fallen out of her bun and he reached for them, doing a bad job at tucking them back under her hat. But she didn’t stop him, just looked at him and he was almost sure she blushed a bit. His thumb brushed over her cheek and he leaned down to –

The car stopped with squealing tyres besides them. All of a sudden he got pulled away from her, roughly shoved inside of the car. Yang gasped when she almost fell on top of him and he had to stop her from falling all over the place when the car immediately pulled back on the road.

“You will regret that”, Yang said as she pulled herself up.

“Talk to our boss about that”, the man behind the wheel said.

“Oh, trust me, I will. Just wait.”

“This is probably not the time to get cocky”, Mercury mumbled.

“Listen to your boyfriend”, the man on the passenger seat said. “You don’t want to mess with our boss. Also we have guns.”

“Watch me.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring out of the window. Mercury wasn’t sure if that proved how brave or how stupid she was. Probably both.

The car stopped behind one of the most expensive hotels the city had to offer. Mercury felt a shiver run down his spine. Everyone knew who the hotel belonged to. No one less than the most dangerous criminal in town. If these people had been after Yang he was in worse trouble than he had ever feared.

At least Yang didn’t try anything stupid when the two men walked them inside through the back door. They went straight for the elevators. Yang leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and he was pretty sure she had no idea who was about to probably cut both their throats. They led them to the top floor another man was waiting by the elevators there. The hallway didn’t look like any guests were allowed in here. The third man opened a door for them, leading them right into an office. Huge windows, an view to die for and a woman behind the desk everyone knew and feared.

Everyone except Yang apparently. She walked straight into the office, sitting down in one of the big armchairs in front of the desk. She leaned back as if she didn’t care about anything and said the last thing he had expected to hear from her in this situation:

“Hey, mum.”


End file.
